Arrow Review: Leap of Faith (Season 8 Episode 3)
As Oliver says goodbye to another vital person from his past in the present, Future Team Arrow deals with a shocking tragedy of their own on Arrow Season 8 Episode 3, “Leap of Faith.”
It’s all about the Queen siblings, Queen-Smoak siblings, Dyla, and a battery of emotions that come with the realities of this mission that keeps the emotional punches rolling and drops one legitimate twist in the final scene that changes the whole game.
The trip to Nanda Parbat to get the truth about what The Monitor’s intentions are leads to a bit of a loss in the emotional tension present in the first 2 episodes.
“Leap of Faith” trades some of that emotional effect in for offering some vague insight into The Monitor’s mission, dropping a seemingly important detail about what happens if The Monitor fails to maintain the balance between good and evil in the universe.
Thea: This God will bring forth the end of times.
From Al-Fatih’s illustration and the writings, I can’t help but feel that he’s not necessarily talking about The Monitor we know, but The Anti-Monitor. I guess we’ll be seeing if that’s the case soon enough.
Though Oliver’s mission to discover the truth is undoubtedly crucial in the grand scheme of things, it’s the Queen sibling moments in Nanda Parbat that take the spotlight in the story.
Oliver and Thea’s cliffside chat is a beautiful moment that illustrates how much the Queen siblings have been changed by everything that’s happened to them since they last saw each other.
Oliver having to leave his family, something that heartbreakingly remains with him, and seeing Thea not exist on Earth-2 seems to be enough to kick up his protective instincts and add another level of heaviness to him, something that even Talia takes notes before she double-crosses him.
The resignation feels heavier with each new episode, adding a level of weariness in the face of the non-answers he’s getting. Talia even notes that there’s a heaviness to him that she hasn’t seen in Oliver even in Russia.
While we’ve seen Oliver grow over the years and the reason behind the weariness, there’s calming wisdom to Thea that wasn’t there when we last saw her, even imparting some perspective on their parents and how even though they weren’t perfect, they gave them something else.
Thea: It did help us become the people we are today. They turned us into heroes.
Heroes, they indeed became, from Oliver’s mission to Thea’s destruction of the pits, the League, and the Guild, and rebuilding the League with Talia.
But it’s the moment Oliver is forced to say goodbye to his little sister—again—that heightens the emotions of the hour. Seeing Oliver traveling and being forced to say goodbye to the people he thought he’d never see again continues to be an emotional assault on my tear ducts, and this moment is no different.
Oliver’s unwillingness to let go of his sister first and Thea’s assurances that it isn’t goodbye though infused with some lightheartedness is heartbreaking to see, especially with one of her last requests of her brother.
Thea: And please don’t die.
While Oliver’s emotional journey continues, Diggle and Lyla go on a mission of their own, forcing some introspection on what they’ve been doing for years in a very concrete way.
The Diggles dealing with the reality of what they’re doing and the concept of mortality, especially with the fate of the universe at stake is interesting to see. I feel it’s been so rare for them to take stock of what they do without setting an example.
Though the pair have always been pragmatic about what their jobs entail, this is one of those moments where we see the cracks and genuine fear of losing his wife and son. Lyla’s words try to instill the pragmatism into her husband once again.
Lyla: No one knows the future. All we can do is enjoy the time we have with the people we love and make our choices from a place of strength, not fear.
Ultimately, there’s still the big secret Lyla is keeping from Diggle about her deal, serving as a parallel of sorts to Oliver’s. Every interaction since that reveal has this big secret hanging over it, adding an unsettling, doom-like feeling to it.
Will she tell him before he inevitably finds out? Or will it be a story saved for “Crisis”?
As Diggle deals with the realities of the life they’ve chosen, Future Team Arrow gets a rude awakening of their own, as Mia and William deal with being the only family, they have left and losing Zoe in a gut-wrenching moment.
Mia and William’s moment before everything goes wrong for FTA is heartwarming and bittersweet. Mia’s comment about William being the only family she has left goes back to something I noted on Arrow Season 8 Episode 2, “Welcome to Hong Kong,” as William’s life seemingly was hanging in the balance.
Curiously, William uses similar words in the future to help Mia see that operating from a place of fear isn’t the way to live as Lyla does in the present. Is it meant to be a parallel or a hint to something more?
Zoe’s death happens so suddenly and heartbreakingly swift that there is no time to process what happened before the remainder of FTA gets transported to the present day.
Ben Lewis and Katherine McNamara played the absolute devastation of losing one of their own so well. You can’t help but feel Mia and William’s heartbreak about losing Zoe. Connor’s pure, unadulterated anger at what JJ did to Zoe and how much damage his brother has caused is played so well by Joseph David Jones.
FTA bring it at that moment as they express distinct levels of shock, anger, and sadness at an aspect of the reality of what they’ve taken on, and it’s executed so well.
Andrea Sixtos’ last moments as Zoe and her tearful request to let Rene know that she loves him is a heartbreaking blow.
There’s another level to the sadness at losing Zoe so early on. She was honestly an exemplary Black Canary and had me hopeful about the future of the mantle. I hope that we see Zoe again in some sense because if Sara’s story is any indication, Canaries can always come back in some way.
But we don’t even get a moment to process the shocking death as the remaining members of FTA are transported to The Bunker—in 2019!
William’s moment of realization at seeing Oliver in front of him for the first time in 20 years, paired with Mia’s disbelief at seeing her dad packs a wallop. It says it all in their faces.
I wonder how Zoe’s change the FTA dynamic and how the trio will process this loss going forward. How will Mia work through that guilt on top of working through the emotions of seeing her father?
How will the Queen-Smoak family reunion work? Who else is going to need ALL of the William/Oliver, Mia/Oliver, and William/Mia/Oliver scenes? How will Connor and Diggle’s interactions go?
Then there’s the question of time travel. I’m not getting into that, because it would just be nothing but issues.
Random Thoughts
- It’s interesting how the final Arrow cards in the hour change to seemingly reflect some aspect of the series that the episode covers. This week, we get to see the hozen arrowhead.
- That phoenix imagery was clearly on display throughout the hour on Oliver’s trip to Nanda Parbat. Of course, given what the imagery signifies, I can’t help but be curious about the connotations of the usage.
- The Sandra and Connor storyline in the present has me wondering at what point does Diggle take Connor in? Will it be soon?
What did you think of this episode of Arrow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Arrow airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
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Brianna Martinez
Brianna spends her time away from briefs, legal research, and pleadings, watching TV and writing about it. She generally has a lot of feelings about TV, which you can read about here and on Twitter.